A guy I respect a lot in the world of PR, and fellow blogger, David Mullen, recently wrote a couple of posts discussing the value of a PR pro. He first wrote “10 Clues Your PR Pro is Nothing But Show“, and followed that up with “10 Clues Your PR Pro is Worth the Dough“. With exception of perhaps 2 of the 10 items he listed, these are all also ways to determine if you have a truly strategic sourcing professional. Here’s David’s list – are they worth the dough:

They dive headfirst into your business and industry, and immerse themselves in learning every in and out within both.

They ask smart questions.

They are strong writers and great storytellers.

They proactively sync up with marketing, advertising, interactive and media planning to help create compelling, robust campaigns aimed at achieving your business goals.

They challenge you to step outside your comfort zones and try new things.

They know what they don’t know.

They are resourceful and create solutions to overcome challenges.

They listen as much as they talk.

They bring creative energy and a positive attitude to the table.

They own their mistakes, learn from them and put processes in place to minimize the chance those mistakes happen again.

Revise this only slightly, and you have a list of clues letting you know that your SOURCING pro is worth the dough:

They dive headfirst into your business and industry, and immerse themselves in learning every in and out within both. (true for sourcers; they’ve got to know the industry(ies) in which they source or they’ll be labeled a hack pretty quickly)

They ask smart questions. (not just the general salary / years of experience / degree or not types of questions)

They are strong writers and great storytellers. They don’t rely solely on resume databases and LinkedIn to make connections; they actively engage in the communities from which they source, and develop relationships with individuals.

They proactively sync up with marketing, advertising, interactive and media planning to help create compelling, robust campaigns aimed at achieving your business goals. While respecting traditional sourcing methods, they aren’t afraid of embracing new ways of doing things and find creative methods of combining old and new.

They challenge you to step outside your comfort zones and try new things. (will appropriately question your specs and ask you to think outside the box on candidate requirements)

They know what they don’t know. (no strategic sourcer can know all of the resources and all the answers to every single research question, and a good one will readily admit this and surround themselves with others who can provide answers)

They are resourceful and create solutions to overcome challenges. (if one tool isn’t working, they find another one, or find a way to make it work)

They listen as much as more than they talk.

They bring creative energy and a positive attitude to the table. (they find ways to draw candidates to them rather than constantly having to chase down candidates)

They own their mistakes, learn from them and put processes in place to minimize the chance those mistakes happen again. (can’t add much to this 🙂 )

Thanks to David for being the brains behind this list. I think it’s also good to take a look at the many intangibles your sourcer brings to the table in addition to these items. You’ll find true value in a strategic sourcer who can prove themselves in each of these areas for your recruiting efforts, and also translate this value in other areas of your business.

I’ll end by asking the same question David did at the end of his post: what would you add to this list? Leave your thoughts in a comment below!

[…] colleague David Mullen wrote a post a couple months ago that inspired me to take a look at what makes a good sourcer. I’ve also written several pieces on what makes a researcher a good one: check them out here, […]